Once I tried really hard to get Elmer's glue out of the bottle. I squeezed the bottle with all my strength. It came out all right. The top blew off and the entire contents flew up in the air and somehow landed on my head. The scene ended with globs of glue dripping slowly down my glasses. The kids were in shock. No one said a word until I took off the glasses and started laughing.

In a message dated 10/28/2003 2:57:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, india99@infionline.net writes:
Oh yes, and the time the assistant superintendent was visiting my class and
the kinders were finger painting ( this is funny rather than awful) a
child tripped and caught herself by leaning against the superintendent
...at crotch level on his three piece suit. Two perfect little hand
prints.. The man was a rare administrator.. He laughed and quietly left to
go home and change. 1979
Thanks for the laugh! My all-time favorite diasaster/failure story is the day I decided to make a life-size George Segal inspired sculpture. I chose a quiet lovely fifth grade boy who never seemed to get recognition or be chosen for much by his peers. Every kid wanted to be the model, but "Charles" was the lucky one! I invited class mothers to help the other kids wrap Charles with strips of plastercraft. We covered him (except his face) with plastic wrap first and began from his feet up. After he was covered up to his waist, he decided he needed to go to the bathroom. Mistake # 1: I add never asked him to use the bathroom BEFORE the project. So, off came all the plastic wrap and plastercraft. O.k., not so terrible, we wrapped and rewrapped after his bathroom stint. But then, suddenly he felt sick, and the next thing I know he was vomiting all over himself, the plastercraft the parents and kids...what a nightmare..the poor kid covered with everything but skin!

It turns out that this was a very nervous child ( so nervous he was sick) who hadn't slept the night before from the excitement and anticipation of being the center of attention! Oh, he was the center of attention all right! So, this is the story of how a failure ultimately precipitated my invention of the most successful, impressive, and foolproof lesson I've ever done... I thought of a much better way to create a life-size plastercraft person. And she, "Georgina", sits in our school lobby to this day!
Susan on Long Island
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